The most helpful survival tips

          The most helpful survival tips

I had a somewhat related experience in a river in Maine. A buddy and I took a homemade canoe into a calm part of the river - while breaking all the rules. No life jackets; dusk; no one knew where we were; it was in a remote area; no floatation in the canoe; drinking some beer before getting the bright idea… the list goes on. We weren’t worried about the white water below us since we didn’t “plan” on entering it. We did nose up river into some small white water though. That’s when we discovered how badly the canoe was built. A wave splashed over the side and the canoe simply twisted with the weight and then sprang back tossing us over. The mountain water was really cold. But the worst part was I was wearing western boots under my jeans. As I kicked they simply pulled me under. I am a good swimmer but there was no way to pull them off. But I did stay calm. As soon as I realized what the problem was I stopped kicking and began to collect myself, the paddles and the canoe and start for shore. Then I heard the white water approaching quickly (it was too dark by then to actually see it. No time to swim to shore. I let go of everything, called to my friend to do the same, laid feet first on my back, and started through the white water waiting for a suitable rock to grab onto. I watched my friend shoot past me arms out and head first. He had never done white water before. By the time I caught a rock it was so dark I couldn’t see where he had gone. I started jumping in and maneuvering to the next rock closer to shore and then the next, etc. As I neared shore I saw him walking on shore. He had made it to a bend and got out. A bit bruised but fine.

As you note, floating on your back, conserving energy and staying calm are the most important things - except for not doing stupid things before hand. Unfortunately we did the stupid things first. He was extremely lucky though since going head first through white water often ends badly.

Great tip and it helped me twice in what could have been bad situations - both in the water. I’m quite comfortable in the water and enjoy body-surfing, but once found myself surprisingly far out after duck-diving beneath a series of waves …… TOO far out for my comfort. After making sure I was not in a riptide carrying me out further, I fought off the panic of trying to get closer to shore ASAP … knowing it would tire me out. So onto my back I floated, collected myself, took a good breath, thought of a favorite song, and then played it over in my mind while I casually backstroked and lightly kicked toward shore …… most people can do that for a long, long time. After the song ended I checked my position, saw the progress I’d made, and started up on song two. A short while later I could catch a small wave that pushed me into shore close enough for touching. Lesson learned. Second case was helping a very anxious swimmer who was caught in a rip and I got to him and asked him to go onto his back and float, and together we made it safely to shore ….. kudos to him for trusting me and not panicking himself. Great tip - if you panic you Something people often don’t realise is just how cold water, especially in rivers/lakes/the sea, actually is.

This is especially so when there is hot weather and people expect the water to be equally as warm, but it very much isn’t. The states that anything below 15 Celsius/59 Fahrenheit, is considered cold water. 

In the UK & Ireland, the average sea temperatures are 12 Celsius/53 Fahrenheit.

Someone not expecting the water to be so cold can go into what’s known as cold water shock

                                cold water shock leads to:

“… the blood vessels in the skin to close, which increases the resistance of blood flow. Heart rate is also increased. As a result the heart has to work harder and your blood pressure goes up. Cold water shock can therefore cause heart attacks, even in the relatively young and healthy.

The sudden cooling of the skin by cold water also causes an involuntary gasp for breath. Breathing rates can change uncontrollably, sometimes increasing as much as tenfold. All these responses contribute to a feeling of panic, increasing the chance of inhaling water directly into the lungs.”

And that this is a precursor to drowning. They also state that it only takes half a pint of sea water to enter someone’s lungs to start drowning.

So what do you do?

You FLOAT

First, fight your instinct to panic or swim hard, you’ll only tire yourself out and increase your own panic.

Lean back - let yourself float on your back. If you haven’t learned how to do this, then I strongly advise that you do.

The most important part to all of this is: it gives you the time to actually lie back and get used to the cold. It also gives you time to steady your breathing and regain your composure.

Now, how this saved my life:

When in the middle of swimming 1km/0.6 miles, I experienced the worst cramp I’ve ever had in my leg. My whole leg seized up, which made it almost impossible without being in a lot of pain.

Trying to swim to shore, I realised that I just didn’t have enough strength in my arms to swim unaided. Panicking, I almost felt like I was drowning.

And then I remembered this tip & floated on my back until the cramping went down. At which point I managed to swim back to shore and get out.

So, if you ever find yourself in a similar situation, just FLOAT.

Some people have stated that you would need to swim to learn how to float.

While swimming, I believe, is an essential life skill, it isn’t required here, under certain conditions.

Floating on your back not only gives you time to relax yourself and fight off the panic, it can also give precious seconds or minutes to anyone who may have seen you go under to notify the appropriate emergency response personnel.

                    

And another one, which goes into the fundamental skills required to float.